During the 2024-2025 academic year, more than five decades after coeducation at the University, all three major self-governance organizations — the University Judiciary Committee, the Honor Committee and Student Council — have been led by women this term. Harper Jones, Valentina Gonzalez and Laura Howard, heading the UJC, Student Council and the Honor Committee, respectively, credited their predecessors and mentors for influencing their leadership styles and said that this term’s all-female representation still has room for growth.
As the last public University in the United States to become coeducational, the path to women’s leadership at the University has been complicated. The University first admitted women to degree-granting programs in 1920, but female students were restricted from full participation in student life until 1972. After coeducation, women’s representation in leadership roles was a gradual process.
The Honor Committee, founded in 1842, resisted female leadership well into the 20th century. Its foundation was tied to ideals of Southern chivalry and gentlemanly conduct — values that reinforced the notion that honor and leadership were inherently masculine traits. It was not until 1981 that Nancy Lyons became the first female Honor Committee Chair, breaking nearly 140 years of male leadership.
Student Council, established in 1945, was similarly slow to reflect gender diversity. In 1984, Carole Kirkland became the first female Student Council President. Kirkland focused on improving sexual assault prevention programs and resources for the student body and advocated for greater student input in University decisions. 19 years later, Daisy Lundy became the first Black female Student Council President after surviving a racially motivated attack during her campaign.
The UJC was established in 1955 to oversee student conduct cases, but it was not until 1980 that Nancy H. Platt became the first female UJC Chair. It was another 10 years before the second in 1993, Shelly A. Seaburg. Since 1980, there have been 17 women holding the chairship out of 45 total.
Many years after the first women stepped up to lead these organizations, all three of this term’s leaders sought to strengthen student outreach and engagement in their respective organizations.
Jones’ path to leadership began during her first year at the University when she joined the UJC as a counselor — a support officer representing either the reporter of an offense or the accused student during trials. Serving as senior counselor in her third year, Jones also noticed gaps in how the UJC supported students — particularly around understanding their rights and the committee’s role. This motivated her to run for chair with the goal of increasing transparency towards the student body.
“It gave me this incredible insight into the students going through our system and the complaints that we were representing,” Jones said. “I think most students don’t see the conduct side of the University.”
Now, Jones recognizes this moment with three female self-governance leaders as one that should create lasting change in how students engage with self-governance organizations.
“I think this is a really important moment and a meaningful moment,” Jones said. “But [representation] [is] also about accountability and impact, and the ability to build relationships across the community.”
For Gonzalez, the decision to run for Student Council president was shaped by her grassroots involvement on Grounds. As a member of the Latinx Leadership Institute, she saw the impact of working directly with marginalized communities.
“I never really planned it,” Gonzalez said. “I joined some grassroots organizations … [and] saw the power of working in a community.”
This past term, Gonzalez focused on increasing outreach to underrepresented student groups and making Student Council more accessible to smaller organizations that may not have established ties with the University administration. She worked heavily on improving Support and Access Services — a Student Council branch that provides legal, financial and academic support resources — and building relationships with underrepresented Contracted Independent Organizations.
Upon arriving at the University, Howard was unaware of the Honor Committee’s existence — until her roommate asked if she would accompany her at an information session. Howard decided to join Honor, and stuck with it because she wanted to help people’s voices be heard throughout the trial process. Ultimately, she climbed the ladder before running for chair.
Howard’s focus this term centered on refining the Committee’s multi-sanction system, which was adopted in July 2023. The shift from the single-sanction model, which had governed the Honor System since 1842, represented a significant departure from tradition. Under the multi-sanction model, the Committee introduced a range of sanctions — from educational seminars to suspension and expulsion — and focused on restoration and proportionality rather than automatic punishment.
Given the scale of this change, Howard balanced making adjustments to the system while gathering feedback from students and faculty. To strengthen outreach and improve understanding of the new system, Howard facilitated conversations through various working groups and subcommittees — one example being the Community Relations and Diversity Advisory Committee, which bridges conversations with underrepresented groups on Grounds.
Similar to the way Howard’s roommate encouraged her, the three leaders credited others for shaping their leadership styles and influencing their decisions to run. Their predecessors were particularly influential in this sense, with many of them being women as well. For example, Jones said her leadership was shaped by former UJC chairs Lisa Kopelnik and Nabeel Raza.
Raza guided the committee through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the UJC to adjust how it operated and engaged with the student body. Raza focused on rebuilding relationships between the UJC and the broader student community, and developed a strategy to strengthen those connections moving forward. Kopelnik, who succeeded Raza, focused on implementing those initiatives and expanding student engagement with the UJC.
“Both of them led very differently,” Jones said. “It was cool to be on the committee and be able to see the different ways that they had led and sought to incorporate [their initiatives].”
Moving into her role as chair, Howard said that she was inspired and supported by Gabrielle Bray, who oversaw the adoption of the multi-sanction system as Honor Chair during the 2022-2023 term. Bray led the Constitutional Convention that drafted the framework for the new system and guided the proposal through a successful student referendum, where 88.69 percent of students voted in favor of the change.
Howard said that Bray always had her lawn room door open for support officers, and she wanted to embody her leadership style of welcoming and supporting Committee members.
“Having [Bray] as a resource and such a great source of support was really helpful for me,” Howard said. “I definitely think of her as an impactful figure in my decision to run.”
Gonzalez also learned from her predecessor Tichara Robertson, former Student Council President and class of 2024 alumna, for encouraging her to run and helping her navigate the pressures of public leadership as a woman of color.
“[Robertson] was such a good mentor and role model … she made it so much easier to transition and feel confident,” Gonzalez said. “[She understood] that people are going to say bad things about you regardless.”
The leadership demonstrated to the three women by their predecessors was influential in their governing style, making their jobs about more than just the historic nature of their gender. And while this term represented a step forward, the leaders agreed that there is more work to be done — that true representation extends beyond symbolic leadership.
Moving forward, Jones said that the women-led term reflects how far the University has come since coeducation, but that representation must also address broader socioeconomic barriers — the unpaid nature of student governance roles creates obstacles for low-income students who may have to prioritize paid work over leadership opportunities.
“I know that Student Council and the Honor Committee have also [considered] some of the barriers in place for individuals who come from low-income backgrounds, and I think that’s something that we will continue,” Jones said. “There is a lot more work to be done.”
Jones said that her goal this term was to show other women that they can step into these roles and succeed, helping future female leaders see themselves represented.
“I’m setting an example for other female students to feel as though they too can see themselves in leadership roles,” Jones said. “Representation is important because it shows that there is a place for them in these roles.”
Gonzalez said that serving as president was exciting in the first few months, but it also involved an element of uncertainty given the pressure that comes with the role. She described feeling pressure to present herself as polished and professional at all times — from her wardrobe to the way she presented her ideas — as a way to be taken seriously.
“I felt like I had to [be] perfect,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve learned so much about what professionalism is and how it is so much more than what I look like.”
Howard said that the Committee does not have a perfect record in terms of inclusion. In 1968, the Honor Committee released a report concluding that coeducation would "hurt the Honor System," arguing that mixing men and women would reduce "peer disapproval" for honor offenses. Despite this resistance, women were admitted in 1970 under a court order, and the Honor Committee was forced to adapt. Over time, the Committee has seen more women serve as chairs as the University has shifted in culture.
Howard said that though the Committee was initially defined through the lens of Southern masculinity, Honor is a dynamic system that changes with each generation of students.
“It’s no secret that Honor’s history in the past meant that the definition of Honor was defined in terms of southern chivalry and gentlemanly behavior,” Howard said. “I'm a firm believer that the definition of honor changes with every generation of students … [it] transcends what its history might have been.”
All three leaders said that while the moment is significant, treating representation as a final measure of success would be misguided — true representation must be ongoing and authentic.
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